(1) Cool crimson smoke, logo apparel, and dropped H-bombs aside, Harvard students are very hard to tell apart from any other American college student (except that, perhaps, they're more likely to be traditional-age -- i.e. very , very young).
(2) Harvard students can be as bemused by the whole Harvard phenomenon as anyone else (probably all the more so because they spent so much effort getting there, only to find themselves among a bunch of other socially-awkward nerds. I detect a certain "is this all there is?" tone).
(3) Harvard, being Harvard, doesn't feel the need, in an age that nearly worships residential "updating," to update its dorms. The furniture appears to be about as old as the furniture in my state R2 campus office (which is, of course, much older than the furniture in our spanking-new dorms). And fiberglass shower-stall inserts? I can just imagine what kind of comments those would engender if they were installed anywhere but Harvard (or another Ivy).
I have been told that the student in the cover photo (the one in front of the brick wall who does "indeed go to a prestigious fucking school") was featured in an NPR piece. If you listen to the NPR story, the background music is by Múm. It's the kind of music Cal's dog sometimes perceives during REM sleep--which is kind of a special dog's way of creative exploration without in any way being disloyal.
Observations:
ReplyDelete(1) Cool crimson smoke, logo apparel, and dropped H-bombs aside, Harvard students are very hard to tell apart from any other American college student (except that, perhaps, they're more likely to be traditional-age -- i.e. very , very young).
(2) Harvard students can be as bemused by the whole Harvard phenomenon as anyone else (probably all the more so because they spent so much effort getting there, only to find themselves among a bunch of other socially-awkward nerds. I detect a certain "is this all there is?" tone).
(3) Harvard, being Harvard, doesn't feel the need, in an age that nearly worships residential "updating," to update its dorms. The furniture appears to be about as old as the furniture in my state R2 campus office (which is, of course, much older than the furniture in our spanking-new dorms). And fiberglass shower-stall inserts? I can just imagine what kind of comments those would engender if they were installed anywhere but Harvard (or another Ivy).
That's a good point, CC. I remember reading a story about Duke replacing the single-ply toilet paper after students complained.
DeleteI have been told that the student in the cover photo (the one in front of the brick wall who does "indeed go to a prestigious fucking school") was featured in an NPR piece. If you listen to the NPR story, the background music is by Múm. It's the kind of music Cal's dog sometimes perceives during REM sleep--which is kind of a special dog's way of creative exploration without in any way being disloyal.
ReplyDeleteOr so I'm told.
They are idiots everywhere, even Harvard. That's the Harlem Shake video at the end. Good grief. Did that JUST get to Cambridge?
ReplyDelete